Romanian president calls referendum on plan to let prisoners out early

Romanian President Klaus Iohannis on Monday said he was calling a referendum on government plans to commute sentences for some non-violent criminals, a proposal critics say is a way of helping corrupt politicians evade justice.

The decision comes two days before the European Commission will discuss its latest report on Romania's progress on eradicating corruption and improving the independence of the judiciary.

"We are talking here about what kind of nation we want to be: A strong nation, [based on] the rule of law, or a so-and-so nation, where the rule of law can be watered down," Iohannis said.

He rejected claims from Liviu Dragnea, leader of the ruling Social Democrat Party (PSD), that street protests against the plans in Bucharest and other Romanian cities on Sunday were an attempt to overthrow the government.

Dragnea, who received a two-year suspended jail sentence for his attempts to rig a referendum in 2012, is seen as one of the potential beneficiaries of his government's plans.

The PSD and its liberal satellite party ALDE won a December parliamentary election on promises to cut taxes and increase wages and pensions. But, Iohannis said, "when they got to power, they started something completely different: revising the criminal law to clean their criminal files."